Verizon to end unlimited data plans for users who move to LTE phones, will push shared data plans instead
Fierce Wireless reports on comments from Verizon Wireless CFO Fran Shammo regarding the carrier’s future LTE plans. A topic most notable for users planning on moving to the much-rumored LTE iPhone this fall is that Verizon plans to drop grandfathered-in unlimited data plans for users who move to 4G LTE handsets. This will affect iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S owners on Verizon Wireless with unlimited data plans who move to the rumored LTE iPhone. Instead of unlimited data plans, CFO Shammo says that Verizon will push their upcoming shared-data plan system:
When asked how Verizon will drive customers to this new data share plan, Shammo said that LTE will be the anchor for the new plan and that as customers upgrade from 3G to LTE, they will have to be on a data share plan, allowing the company to sunset its unlimited 3G data plan. “A lot of our 3G base is on unlimited,” Shammo said. “When they migrate off 3G they will have to go to data share. That is beneficial to us.”
Verizon Wireless says that shared data plans will begin rolling in mid-summer, but the company is yet to release any details regarding pricing or shared data plan usage packages. The company says that shared data plans will not only benefit the company in the long-term, but will also benefit families with multiple devices on their account. The current Verizon unlimited data plan costs individual users $30 per month on top of their normal calling bill charges.
WSJ: Next iPhone to feature at least a 4-inch screen, production to begin in June
Mockup
Update: Reuters backed up the WSJ’s report and claimed sources have indicated, “The new iPhone screens will measure 4 inches from corner to corner.” It also said that early production began at LG Display, Sharp Corp, and Japan Display, Inc., which would allow the device to hit production by August.
According to The Wall Street Journal, which cited “people familiar with the situation,” Apple is set to use “at least” a 4-inch screen on the sixth-generation iPhone. Many long-time iPhone customers requested that Apple move away from its 3.5-inch screen traditionally used on the iPhone to a larger screen like many Android handsets on the market. According to the report, Apple ordered “at least” 4-inch screens from Asian suppliers to go into production starting in June. Apple tapped LG Display, Sharp, and Japan Display, Inc., to manufacture the displays.
Late last week, Rene Ritchie of iMore shared some tidbits over what he has heard on the next iPhone. According to his sources, Apple capped the next iPhone’s screen at 4-inches, rather than going any bigger. Ritchie also added that Apple is currently developing a smaller dock connector. Lastly, it will launch in October with LTE in the plans. It will also keep the home button and no-metal backing. iLounge editor Jeremy Horwitz had similar thoughts earlier this month.
Aaron Sorkin to write screenplay for Sony’s Steve Jobs biopic
Sony hired Academy and Emmy award-winning screenwriter and producer Aaron Sorkin to write the screenplay for its upcoming Steve Jobs biopic (not to be confused with the one Ashton Kutcher is starring in), reported Variety. Sony’s biopic will cover the life of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and will be an adaptation of the official biography “Steve Jobs,” which is written by famed author Walter Isaacson and released last fall.
You may recognize Sorkin’s name from the hit movie “The Social Network,” which profiled the hugely-popular social network Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg. The film received eight academy award nominations. While the story may not have been accurate all the way through, it did have many tech-oriented facts right—like the code that appeared on Zuckerberg’s computer while coding from his Harvard dorm room. Sorkin also wrote the upcoming show “The Newsroom” that airs on HBO June 24.
The Sony biopic should be a much bigger budget film than the unofficial version directed by Joshua Michael Stern, which is set to begin filming sometime this month. However, the unofficial version does feature “Two and a Half Men” star Ashton Kutcher as Jobs, which should attract a good amount of viewers. We saw last weekend how Kutcher looked compared to the Apple co-founder.
Since Sorkin definitely has a good track record, this should be an entertaining film—as long as he does not change the history of Jobs’ life as he did for Zuckerberg during some aspects of “The Social Network.” However, he did a great job with “The Social Network,” and using Isaacon’s hit biography as a guide should make for a good representation of the amazing life of Jobs.
Sony commented on its excitement over the film:
Apple gets US Customs to block imports of HTC One X and Evo 4G
United States customs delayed the import of the HTC One X and Evo 4G LTE due to patent issues with Apple, according to The Verge. This is the first type of delay of this nature that we have seen, and it is definitely very interesting. Customs is holding back the handsets while the agency investigates outstanding patent issues currently raised with Apple. During December of last year, the International Trade Commission ruled in favor of Apple and ordered a ban on a number of HTC products. The import ban went in place on April 19, 2012, which was supposed to give HTC time to fix the issues. According to the ruling, HTC was breaking a so-called “data tapping” patent. Google Patent Search described Patent 5946647:
A system and method causes a computer to detect and perform actions on structures identified in computer data. The system provides an analyzer server, an application program interface, a user interface and an action processor. The analyzer server receives from an application running concurrently data having recognizable structures, uses a pattern analysis unit, such as a parser or fast string search function, to detect structures in the data, and links relevant actions to the detected structures. The application program interface communicates with the application running concurrently, and transmits relevant information to the user interface. Thus, the user interface can present and enable selection of the detected structures, and upon selection of a detected structure, present the linked candidate actions. Upon selection of an action, the action processor performs the action on the detected structure.
HTC’s CEO Peter Chou quickly told Reuters in April that the company already began testing new devices to work around the patent issue before the April 19 ban went into effect. The ban was set in place even before the announcement of HTC’s latest One X device; however, the new device still falls under the ban, as The Verge pointed out.
Even if HTC fixed the issues, U.S. Customs is still reviewing if the HTC One X and Evo 4G LTE are violating the patent that HTC is accused of breaking by the ITC. Until then, shipments of the HTC One X and Evo 4G LTE are at a stand still, which could affect device sales. Many AT&T stores across the U.S. are currently sold out of the HTC One X, and AT&T is out of stock on its online store.
I do not think it would be too far-fetched to say this is something Apple wants—especially because the HTC One X at AT&T and Evo 4G LTE at Sprint are two hot devices that could cut into iPhone sales. We reviewed the HTC One X over at 9to5Google, where we called it “one giant leap for HTC.” Today’s stop on importing definitely does not help HTC, which recently reported some not-so good-looking Q1 2o12 earnings. The company reported only $2.3 billion in quarterly revenue, which was a drop of 35 percent year-over-year. I am sure HTC is looking for the One X and Evo 4G to help bring back /quarterly revenue. HTC issued a statement:
Tim Cook met with US Speaker of the House John Boehner today
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook met with U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner at the United States Capital today, according to Boehner’s blog (via MacRumors). There is no word on what the two powerful men discussed, but it could possibly involve the tax holiday that Apple is pushing for to move a chunk of its money to the U.S. from overseas. Such a tax holiday would offer huge cuts in the rates for moving the money, which makes it much cheaper for Apple.
Apple currently has $74 billion of its $110 billion based overseas, the company revealed during its last earnings call. A US tax holiday would allow roughly $1 trillion from Apple and other companies to go back to the U.S. However, it could cost the U.S. federal government $79 billion, The New York Times said last month in its relatively popular piece titled “How Apple Sidesteps Billions in Taxes.” (There is a great graphic at Bloomberg on why the $1 trillion holiday is likely going to happen.)
Does anyone want to take a stab at what the two were discussing?
Update: Check out another picture of the two below which appears to show the handoff of an iPhone 7:
Apple also working on MacBook Airs and iMacs with Retina Displays
Mockup showing Retina Display 11 and 13 inch MacBook Airs
On Monday we broke the news that Apple is readying a brand-new 15-inch MacBook Pro with cornerstone features like an ultra-thin design and USB 3 ports for incredibly fast data transfers. The headline feature of the new notebook, as we described, though, is its super-high-resolution Retina Display. According to sources, the MacBook Retina Display that will debut at WWDC will not stay exclusive to Apple’s Pro notebook, but it will come down to the MacBook Air family as well.
Read on for all of the details!
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